Prashant Bajpai

Features

<p>If you stumbled upon this page after Googling “how to make a chatbot,” you’re not alone. A 2022 study revealed that <a href="https://www.drift.com/books-reports/state-of-marketing-ai/#Executive+Summary">63%</a> of business executives felt that lack of AI education and training was the biggest barrier to adopting chatbots. Furthermore, 81% admit their organization has still not developed any AI-focused education and training.</p>
<p>The good news is that this article will help you build a chatbot from scratch — free of cost without any AI training or coding knowledge required.</p>
<p>Let’s get familiar with the basics of a chatbot before we start building one.</p>
<h2><strong>What is a chatbot?</strong></h2>
<p>A chatbot is a software program that automates conversations initiated through a live chat. It can instantly resolve customer queries that don’t need a lot of human oversight and free up your resources to enhance your productivity.</p>
<p>You can deploy a chatbot to cover all your customer interaction channels on your website, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and mobile apps.</p>
<figure><div><img alt="Копия Chatbot-Adoption-Statistics.png" src="/cms/static/blog/636345997b868a63df7728a8_e0dbee6598c80688d840b0a5e04ccc2c025d689ab203b63119f1e501d2a460aa498b62b40d71fa249a66d9d5af82000ec60ddfd3c58f38d8c6095ba1e16cc5d32c0d54e130a0e1fa8d87783179b059fedc42e15dfa04284a874ee9e3af48c56f6983809e.png" height="473" width="671" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAMklEQVR4nAEnANj/ADi3yC2yxInX4u78/wAABDkkSXKdp7/u9fsAkmCBl2GDo3qW/Pr/nh4WGUBLaSoAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption><a href="https://thrivemyway.com/chatbot-statistics/">Key chatbot adoption statistics.</a></figcaption></figure>
<h2><strong>Types of chatbots</strong></h2>
<p>The use cases for chatbots are countless, but fundamentally, there are two main types of chatbots offered by software developers today:</p>
<h3><strong>Rule-based chatbots</strong></h3>
<p>Rule-based chatbots are the easiest chatbots you can build. They resolve user questions by sending them a pre-programmed answer matching their inquiry.</p>
<p>However, there’s no room for flexibility. If users deviate even slightly from the trigger keywords, your chatbot won’t be able to send the correct answer. There’s no scope for them to learn from the data gathered through customer interactions either.</p>
<h3><strong>AI-based chatbots</strong></h3>
<p>AI-based chatbots use artificial Intelligence and machine learning to make every interaction as accurate and personalized as possible. Some are so advanced that it’s hard to tell the difference if you’re interacting with a human or a bot. For example, once the user sends a question, the chatbot evaluates the user intent, asks more questions if necessary, and pulls out the most accurate answer from the decision tree.</p>
<p>The best part is your intelligent chatbot gets more intelligent with every interaction. This is because it keeps learning from your customer service database to give them accurate answers in a more human tone.</p>
<figure><div><img alt="image.png" src="/cms/static/blog/636345988c6f16371ae17ca7_ff06aa9d5872466027df5e5587161d9e3b7b75408a7ed078a959f44ac03b83cd5510e427d0b004fb1f374be149e5d77f56d74c8f6e4df616889d02fa411d3c2fd2aca9926395c7445285e35ae684b7792c6c0865280a78b3220e4eec0b7d63c0aa737f2c.png" height="839" width="750" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAAECAIAAAAmkwkpAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAPUlEQVR4nGP49PN3bllDZkH147efGL58//3n+6fHjx89ef2Roap/jntSWVnntPkbdjKEFzWo+aUyCOsAEQB6BByUh4f7sQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption>Rule-based vs. AI-based chatbot.</figcaption></figure>
<h2><strong>How to create a chatbot from scratch in five steps</strong></h2>
<h3>1. Understand your goals and set a clear purpose</h3>
<p>It doesn’t matter how good your aim is if you don’t know where your target is. So don’t jump on the chatbot bandwagon without asking yourself these questions first:</p>
<p>- Which workflows do you want to automate?
- How much time and money do you expect to save?
- Where do buyers need the most help on their journey?
- What does your average customer profile look like?</p>
<p>Whether it’s a chatbot for marketing, sales, or customer support, you need to get specific with your goals to make it effective.</p>
<p>The more specific and clear your goal/call-to-action is, the more measurable the success of your chatbot will be. For example, some of the popular chatbot goals include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Generate 10000 webinar registrations.</li>
<li>Get 100 daily eBook downloads.</li>
<li>Send a welcome promo code.</li>
<li>Bring your average customer response time down to 2 minutes.</li>
</ul>
<p>If you’re still struggling to pin down your chatbot’s goals, here’s a smart checklist you can follow:</p>
<figure><div><img alt="goals.png" src="/cms/static/blog/63634598e9afcd7b32c60fc8_803e0aecb9b0a008c46f35eebdd0d672dd47601c8f5d329acd5e8248c9d5f2b61291b042fe11ed7c8dadad17130fd89a347e5d313da4735cd09b23172be40a354a228954d5847d5b6500159501e61c45b84931bd27f6caf486ad1456cc5f7ed26c01f537.png" height="432" width="647" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAMklEQVR4nAEnANj/AIpxmYhwl5F5n//w/wAkAC0yCTtFHk29nMIAgmmSgmmSf2eP9OD/WwISj6YszrIAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption>How to set your chatbot goals.</figcaption></figure>
<h3><strong>2. Choose your chatbot building platform</strong></h3>
<p>Most businesses hesitate to take this next step. You don’t know much about the time and money it takes to build a chatbot, how to train your team to manage it, how seamlessly it can work with your current integrations, or how many languages it can respond in. So we’re still just scratching the surface when it comes to the questions you have on your mind.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it all comes down to this concern — how simple is it to build, and how much can it simplify your work?</p>
<p>You also need stability and security to make simplicity count. If you’re giving a platform access to your critical business data and operations, it’s important to find a reliable option. Chatfuel is an official partner of Meta, which means your data is in safe hands.</p>
<p>That’s where a chatbot building platform like Chatfuel gives you the edge by demanding minimal investment in exchange for maximum efficiency. You can use the drag-and-drop bot builder to test and launch your solution across your preferred channels, all within a few clicks.</p>
<p>Chatfuel isn’t just limited to building basic rule-based chatbots. You can also integrate leading AI from Google and Chatfuel with Dialogflow to <a href="https://www.janis.ai/docs/chatfuel/index.html">build intelligent chatbots</a>. As a result, you can easily get the same value instead of building one from scratch using complex frameworks like Salesforce Einstein, IBM Watson, or Oracle Bot Builder.</p>
<h3><strong>3. Map out your conversational flow</strong></h3>
<p>Chatbot builders can give you every feature you’re looking for, but what’s more important is knowing what your customer is looking for.</p>
<p>If you’re building it to support your marketing, sales, or customer support departments, ensure they’re fully involved in this process. That’s how you can map out your conversational flow that converts.</p>
<figure><div><img alt="decision-tree.png" src="/cms/static/blog/63634599adc09d11300b41f9_945aa27fe4747c797fcd9829e18eb2f7a2e1c81ffede3bf379ea63d0138ac97c6bb89d5b777f92fafc42ca661dea003652b737f2b3bf6b8c7b63b0198815d31b8314e4ee319fc5178297285d52bff16062e69a5f68daae8f8e4906650906a19538335455.png" height="2074" width="3746" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAI0lEQVR4nGPoOfffPj7TOjiKQcKIQS+l2SG/btGr/7t+/QcAh/QME7GD6BEAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption>A sample conversational flow map.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Your customers have unique questions at every stage of the buying process. And your team can help you list the most common questions and the best resolutions for each.</p>
<p>For example — a user who doesn’t know much about your product would be thinking about these questions:</p>
<ul>
<li>What product or service are you offering?</li>
<li>What problem will your product solve for them?</li>
<li>Why should they purchase your product?</li>
<li>What separates your brand from your competitors?</li>
</ul>
<p>On the other hand, a user who is interested in your product and evaluating it further would need answers to these questions:</p>
<ul>
<li>How can they trust you?</li>
<li>Is there a detailed guide to using your product?</li>
<li>Can you provide any testimonials or case studies?</li>
<li>How quickly can you deliver it?</li>
<li>Can they book a consultation with your team to get a customized solution?</li>
</ul>
<p>The more you think by putting yourself in the customer’s shoes, the more engaging your conversational flow will be.</p>
<h3><strong>4. Build your chatbot flow</strong></h3>
<p>To access Chatfuel’s free bot builder, you must connect your Facebook Page account while logging in. You can also connect your Instagram account once you’ve logged in to build your chatbot.</p>
<figure><div><img alt="image.png" src="/cms/static/blog/635b8a0a5ff5f8da04d44e3e_8a30a71643e2e3dfbaabe696e2acc8a20acdbd932d85dc52fc240067ca242c9c0d966d27d3c5ff0e24b145f2aae92ce3cb8a8a6fef21b4d7d099f55f6a6d35d8e8e680fa2db7abb670f6a81040689311afb9a9fd95e8664e4b4c418e2b5b482cccb205cd.png" height="431" width="703" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAIklEQVR4nGP4////qvWbmzsn/P//n+H////SWmYMIopADgDoARBNuGvQogAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption>A safe one-click login to your Chatfuel dashboard.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Let’s say you want to build a simple FAQ chatbot for your Facebook Business Page. Go to the Automation tab in your dashboard and click the '+' sign to add a new Messenger flow. This will open up the visual builder, where you can design and simulate the conversation scenarios you had mapped out earlier.</p>
<figure><div><img alt="image.png" src="/cms/static/blog/63634599e77ccd2aa600cc3b_8321cd3ded7506a2a86ee344428af9dfab5718ceadf6a0b77860d2b5087ab69960af06e80822e9ab068869493ce45de96a44087ac61d48f4898f6c53a9e3ced055023b22be08d906fbe92fade0bc2ea3ae11a62c3c02f0b693e23a7c054efe99cf69d5b9.png" height="895" width="1911" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAJUlEQVR4nAEaAOX/AAAEGP7//+Xj5Obm6AAMERv////d19LX0c7FzxCqvBFlmgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption>Create a new Facebook Messenger flow.</figcaption></figure>
<p>It’s time to choose an Entry Point for your new flow. An Entry Point is the channel your user comes through that triggers your chatbot into action.</p>
<p>For example, if you want your FAQ chatbot to launch as soon as someone messages your Facebook page, you need to select 'Facebook Page' as your Entry Point.</p>
<figure><div><img src="/cms/static/blog/636349ea0bc1a7840541e984_EEEPPP-min.gif" loading="lazy" alt="" height="1080" width="1920" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption>Choosing your chatbot’s Entry Point.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Let’s start with the chatbot FAQ welcome message flow. Next, you can navigate to the highlighted blue button on the middle-right side of the builder.</p>
<p>Then, in the drop-down menu, select Collect User Data → Answers.</p>
<p>Set up a Welcome Message followed by the 'Add Quick Reply' and update the options your users usually request.</p>
<figure><div><img alt="bot-building-1.gif" src="/cms/static/blog/6363459a978d654a8c69d392_beab84d114c0b090a378bb4bdcbf0b4d1edc44adb9d2c586943f18ac1ca528149203ffde752290d99546cd1767f4cbc259c7314b575edf3c3502994ec5f876f14bbcee49be33c5650440cbb104a6415c83b479e9ce46969510214b812f5aec3ccf24bfe0.gif" height="862" width="1920" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption>Setting up the welcome message for your FAQ chatbot.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Similarly, you can add new blocks that lead to the specific information requested by your customers.</p>
<figure><div><img alt="final-bot.png" src="/cms/static/blog/6363459aadc09dfefa0b4206_ff231c5a642937a6f2476b51b4ef311da4275665a19f1798cf5c7bc0e903dfd435c43a2305610b02ea8188c81e28438be179e2882644647188bc6d7eccb2eea12b72e51704ec91d74f215b6d9436b9d5d55ce506bb1d031b55eedf0f4bbccdbd4e73e8fa.png" height="907" width="1907" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAABJ0AAASdAHeZh94AAAAJUlEQVR4nAEaAOX/AAMOG////9bW1uLi4gAAAhH////Y2Nje3+DCSRCHtaZMpgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption>Your FAQ conversational flow is ready.</figcaption></figure>
<p>You can set your Entry Point to active and test your flow inside the builder itself. It’ll help you know exactly how the conversation flow looks from your customer’s point of view.</p>
<h3><strong>5. Train, test, and optimize</strong></h3>
<p>It’s important to test your chatbot on your website or social media page with a small group of users. You can enjoy up to 50 free conversations if you’re using Chatfuel.</p>
<p>We know simple rule-based chatbots don’t need to be trained with the data you collect. But if you want to offer smarter and more flexible conversational flows through the data you collect, you need to connect <a href="https://www.janis.ai/docs/chatfuel/index.html">DialogFlow</a> to Chatfuel.</p>
<p>The Analyze tab will help you track the success of your chatbot by measuring engagement, user activity, and retention rates. You can use this data to fix communication gaps in your flows and keep customers happy.</p>
<figure><div><img alt="analyze-tab.jpg" src="/cms/static/blog/6363459adcbdd310447b94e2_49e2f63fe869d23626baea12e5cbc50bfc9dddf72f49e4c7b552196cf6295b0f2f01aadbb92af9b485ae2ff5de77208319ef244228f83c587dccea4f98ffa2f7c6d62ce2845d9e01b559c420428d34ee94d36ce03c53fa41b6baed136783c4948ab1fa40.jpeg" height="1251" width="1600" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAALUlEQVR4nGN4/frNnn1HGlp6Glp6GNo6evKKyqdMn71t524Gd59gSXm1Q2AAAK4IFNL2jIvjAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption>Measure your bot performance through the Analyze tab.</figcaption></figure>
<h2><strong>Examples of chatbots</strong></h2>
<p>If you’re looking for some inspiration, here are a few successful chatbots implemented by businesses like yours that took their conversions to the next level:</p>
<h3><strong>For lead generation</strong></h3>
<figure><div><img alt="image.png" src="/cms/static/blog/6363459a769fbfbaf53193a1_2a04cad2887d93787bcebf2d7e7b829748101105792b0c97cd7acba3d71d69a24b1023226fe6519ff8702e67691c74ec262f3e7bfd2c0c4a5eb0f8ba7ac8226d7d8b72fb3da827e3cedbd0557507f95a0e4a59baa32aaa2eb58ae4e9f9c64494269d01ba.png" height="1454" width="724" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAIAAAAECAIAAAArjXluAAAACXBIWXMAABcRAAAXEQHKJvM/AAAAJ0lEQVR4nAEcAOP/ADc6PgAOHQDc3t/V3OMA+fv+pLXFAKSqrnuKlrNiDq/Vp2sQAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption>A chatbot that fast-tracks your lead generation.</figcaption></figure>
<h3><strong>For collecting applications</strong></h3>
<figure><div><img alt="image.png" src="/cms/static/blog/6363459a2a80d51d9e5065ad_29303278ad137ffb4c4c047ec1d5cda74e956a2595177d0dcb71f3acb428ff45d2db630eb94ccbb2a38624182c16d3bc2c8a43c93624ff386a7186b79db80ce9683631e90e2d3262b86d00bf3bb37901d993803be321627cc0ded5f2a485cc4e5ebb72fc.png" height="1454" width="724" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAIAAAAECAIAAAArjXluAAAACXBIWXMAABcRAAAXEQHKJvM/AAAAJ0lEQVR4nAEcAOP/ADEzNgAPHAC4ubm9wcUA////+fr9AJ+hpH2IkKuPDpmAJn3dAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption>An insurance company's chatbot for collecting new applications.</figcaption></figure>
<h3><strong>For targeted ads</strong></h3>
<figure><div><img alt="image.png" src="/cms/static/blog/6363459a9d816553c8c4b8b6_f3773c14848428d04578dc8026f8e8dc7ab4074058755d8b4767f78954b2cd048f1a6fde9564c9260ddb8f3d93b17ecc442f554d016d8d8fdd4b93989f6f075cc92d514f4e3522b680125a9cf989896a1cf7f8a55861281b115583f3ffc2c7cf260175b0.png" height="1454" width="724" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAIAAAAECAIAAAArjXluAAAACXBIWXMAABcRAAAXEQHKJvM/AAAAJElEQVR4nGMQEBRUUlFluHvv/odvvxnqKopFJBUYyiuqCvLzAIuACoWh/XXFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption>A recruitment agency using a chatbot for targeted ads.</figcaption></figure>
<h3><strong>For managing customer feedback</strong></h3>
<figure><div><img alt="image.png" src="/cms/static/blog/6363459b39de9744f7641856_c0180b15009d2ab030078af15bec71bf486ed3256b0794ce29419fe7be6f1e4de841f64dd8d56a5bc4f83ff07b1996cca5ab40c2c35ba3c6f128966b039c5bb685662e9d5f244dfd7fbb3a473ad8bed45acbbb14a32483a62abb482f9210a010cd71cf73.png" height="1454" width="724" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAIAAAAECAIAAAArjXluAAAACXBIWXMAABcRAAAXEQHKJvM/AAAAJUlEQVR4nGMwMbNhEZBnqGmeVtu+iOHv378v331jWL563azZ8wCX8Q2sElJF5QAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption>A chatbot to manage user feedback.</figcaption></figure>
<h3><strong>For product recommendations</strong></h3>
<figure><div><img alt="image.png" src="/cms/static/blog/6363459b2a80d52a375065ae_5da28edd5e5bb874fc26ec2b49b9276d6d7bd5cd5269c31c0214b0b65e3da0a9631d94b6ad8654a47b1f6984f96013961e3fee5d34918c5f1c8de9093ddaf39a164ff54b54fdfb0eaffc07e71444fd5030764150e315993332aee212595d118e53c3e1d8.png" height="1685" width="839" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAIAAAAECAIAAAArjXluAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAJUlEQVR4nGOQlVdgYBVkuHvv/omL1xnef/h46NwthpLyytbufgClOg26sA6R4QAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"></div><figcaption>A personal shopping assistant chatbot.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Become an expert chatbot builder without any expertise needed</h2>
<p>Chatfuel is one of the largest no-code chatbot builders in the world. It minimizes the number of clicks it takes from build to launch your chatbot.</p>
<p>We showed you a step-by-step guide to build one from scratch in this article. But you can do it even faster by trying our <a href="https://chatfuel.com/templates">free templates</a> to fit your use case perfectly.</p>
<p>Sign up for a <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com">free trial</a> today.</p>
<figure><div><iframe allowfullscreen frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xr8kmZ-oG_8" title="How to create a bot: Chatbot online builder for website / Facebook / Instagram automation"></iframe></div></figure>

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<h2>What do chatbots mean for business?</h2>
<p>A chatbot is a software built to respond to messages. It can be set to reply to common questions, respond based on specific keywords users type or utilize AI to adapt its answers to a particular situation.</p>
<p>Using chatbots helps businesses scale more smoothly without worrying about customer support overloads or missing new leads due to growing activity. They are mostly used for: boosting sales and increasing conversion, improving customer service and loyalty, generating and nurturing leads.</p>
<p>The most common channels for chatbots use are:</p>
<ul>
<li>SMS texts;</li>
<li>website chat windows;</li>
<li>social media platforms.</li>
</ul>
<p>In this article I’ll focus on social media chatbots.</p>
<h2>What main problems do chatbots solve?</h2>
<h3>In marketing</h3>
<p>Marketers use chatbots to:</p>
<ul>
<li>boost sales;</li>
<li>drive repeat sales;</li>
<li>improve ads performance;</li>
<li>increase engagement in socials and more.</li>
</ul>
<p>For example, a chatbot that sends a promocode to prospects after they leave their e-mail generates you leads and helps increase sales. A bot that responds to every new comment under your posts increases engagement rate. And a chatbot for ads guides new customers through a sales funnel after they click an ad.</p>
<h3>In sales</h3>
<p>Chatbots for sales are used for:</p>
<ul>
<li>lead generation;</li>
<li>lead qualification;</li>
<li>booking meetings;</li>
<li>making sales inside the bot.</li>
</ul>
<p>For instance, a survey chatbot helps get customer contacts and filter them out into smaller segments. A bot link you can send to customers will let them book a meeting with you right in their socials. You can also design a chatbot to act as a store to let customers buy from you without leaving their favorite social media site.</p>
<h3>In customer support</h3>
<p>Customer support specialists use chatbots to:</p>
<ul>
<li>answer frequently asked questions;</li>
<li>keep track of new comments;</li>
<li>gather customer feedback;</li>
<li>improve customer happiness.</li>
</ul>
<p>For example, a chatbot that shows customers FAQ buttons lets them solve their problem faster and frees up time to handle more pressing tickets. A bot set to react to new comments in socials keeps track of any incoming requests and won’t keep any customers waiting. Finally, using a chatbot to run surveys and collect feedback increases customer loyalty and keeps you informed on issues that need improvement.</p>
<h2>How to build a chatbot?</h2>
<p>Building a chatbot consists of 4 main steps: setting a goal, creating a conversation logic, building the bot, monitoring statistics.</p>
<h3>Define your goal</h3>
<p>There are many things chatbots can do, but it’s always best to start with a single idea. Try to find an area of your business that needs help the most and put your effort there. Or take the opposite approach and try to improve an area you’re doing really well in to see how much you can scale it. Just remember to focus on one thing first.</p>
<p>Take a look at the list below. Does anything resonate with you? Does your business struggles or needs growth in some of these areas? If so, pick a goal that you feel fits your business the most.</p>
<ul>
<li>finding customers (lead generation);</li>
<li>getting better leads (lead qualification);</li>
<li>paid customer acquisition (running ads);</li>
<li>increasing customer loyalty (product recommendation).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Create a conversation logic</h3>
<p>After you set a goal you need to create a general conversation logic of how the interaction between your bot and customers will go. This logic will differ depending on the goal you chose. For example if you chose to get more customers the logic will focus on collecting contacts during the conversation or if you chose to increase customer loyalty you’ll focus more on giving special offers or discounts.</p>
<p>Creating any conversation logic follows the same principle. First, think through the steps your customers will go through during the conversation. How will the beginning of the conversation look like? How does it go from there? What happens at the end of the conversation? Write down these steps on the piece of paper or use a Google Sheet.</p>
<h3>Make a bot yourself or hire professionals</h3>
<p>The first step in making a chatbot is choosing a bot building platform. There are several main criteria you need to consider: ease of use, supported platforms, features and pricing. Check out my <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/chatbot-platforms-customer-service">chatbot platform comparison guide</a> to learn more.</p>
<p>Most of the platforms let you create a chatbot with no-code builders. If you ever installed software on your computer or set up Facebook business page then you’ll be able to build a chatbot yourself. Sign up for a bot building platform and start adding conversational blocks to your bot’s logic, connect your socials and activate your bot.</p>
<p>If creating a bot sounds difficult or you already tried building one and felt overwhelmed you can get professional bot builders to do it for you. Chatfuel has a dedicated team of bot builders that help customers to: define goals, create conversation logic, build a bot itself and get the most from chatbots for each individual case.</p>
<h3>Monitor and course correct</h3>
<p>After you activate your bot, focus on analyzing stats and making necessary adjustments based on that data. Look for anomalies in the numbers. Are there any parts of the conversation where the numbers notably drop? What buttons get clicked the most? How many people get to the end of the conversation?</p>
<p>Find such blind spots and figure out how to deal with them. Then, make adjustments and keep monitoring the incoming data.</p>
<h2>How you can use a chatbot</h2>
<p>Below are some main examples on how to use chatbots. Every feature in this list, except Workspaces is available in any Chatfuel subscription plan. Keep in mind that this list includes selected features and there are more functionalities available to Chatfuel users.</p>
<h3>Answer FAQs</h3>
<p>Answering frequent questions is the most common use for chatbots. Having a list of buttons on your page helps people solve their problem on their own. You can add up to 6 buttons that can lead to various blocks: text, media, product gallery, collecting contacts, booking a meeting and more.</p>
<p>FAQ buttons also affect how many visitors contact your business. Some people might struggle to formulate their question or hesitate to start a conversation, so they never message you. FAQs are shown to people before they type any message, so having them in place helps customers make a decision to contact you easier.</p>
<figure><img alt="vivaldi_IgHBtx9uq2.png" src="/cms/static/blog/632c1e7c6c7ca547945cd6bc_daf5cc5750ad964f2976026d8bb134ea9dae06c56f9f6c49373202408c038458974c593e8e8d08d5660fe6d9b80b5821ad7bd1796cc0d1e2fd900be19503c9308ac8f0f37583096a34e8cbae777f75836558772781b3c8c16ff66488ed6f9e0670dd0458.png" height="908" width="1481" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAA7DAAAOwwHHb6hkAAAAIklEQVR4nGMQEZXQ0tJubGhISU5m+Pvnd0pyclVVVWNDAwBxGgp5czzFlgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>A chatbot with FAQ buttons for an e-commerce store. It gathers the necessary information from the client before connecting them to a live chat operator.</figcaption></figure>
<h3>Reply to comments</h3>
<p>Chatbots can handle your Facebook or Instagram comments. Some popular uses include: tracking all incoming comments, giving instant responses to new comments, sending after hours notifications, offering promo codes in response to specific hashtags and more.</p>
<p>You can set up autoreplies to one or multiple posts, to all comments or the ones containing particular words, phrases or hashtags. The bot can give both public and private replies and respond after a certain time since the new comment.</p>
<figure><img alt="vivaldi_2VnOmZ4myt.png" src="/cms/static/blog/632c1e7c6f20784215da4cb4_9098ae7d77d7b32e1f31d693190f69cda09642531367fa5de076c880939de5c119bee43c1ba6582b39b0dc9f9bb7cdbaa532bcef91501943600b2baf27d5ebab43c18176825a72697af2daffa7781b3fb136afb013d5ec27597375ca72d91c00ef72dbcd.png" height="867" width="1497" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAA7DAAAOwwHHb6hkAAAAI0lEQVR4nGMQEpWMjIw9cODA0SNHGDasX9/b09PX2/fm9WsAmOQN+8XdLO0AAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>This chatbot replies to the specific set of words in the post. After a little delay it sends a public and a private reply with a link to a store.</figcaption></figure>
<h3>Sell via Facebook Shops</h3>
<p>A Facebook Shop is an online storefront where people can explore and buy your products inside Facebook. A Shop connected to a bot lets you instantly respond to questions about products. Set up answers for specific products or all products in your store. Give a blanket response or add keywords to let your bot reply to certain words or phrases.</p>
<figure><img alt="vivaldi_6FMS4Dv8e4.png" src="/cms/static/blog/632c1e7ce32312f861f0ea06_5068c41f3b7c350d85f82f78096a709a21ea8a9712de04c4b7902913fda31b3fec0f39a7be3428a72f769880fe83474f5f44ccbc3c056ae413a72c35d7235d59633a853df28cfdef12975ca4754cddd7b36c9f972391185a21fa2b6fe7d61a8f5b0cc4c6.png" height="667" width="1590" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAA7DAAAOwwHHb6hkAAAAJUlEQVR4nAEaAOX/AA8VHqmpq87NzdDO0ADZ2NbW1tXX19fn5ubBlhFWhQw62wAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>A Facebook Shops chatbot that automatically responds to allergy-related questions. In all other cases it hands over the conversation to a manager.</figcaption></figure>
<h3>Improve your ads</h3>
<p>Connecting Facebook or Instagram ads with a chatbot helps warm up customers before they decide to go to your store. Add information about your product and let customers get familiar with your offering without leaving the platform they trust. You can also ask hesitant buyers to leave their contacts, giving you new leads.</p>
<figure><img alt="Loom_qX1E3fpyV2.png" src="/cms/static/blog/632c1e7c769f0cbaf4cda9cb_92bcb8c1802f226588f1ee6191d726c4c5767c95882a8b6b78e8407c226d1ec6897e24e68ef143026d413c3a5c831843995b341411629e9183544090f53a9dcae9b4538b67ba427a64c797a4c8e8663724db55bdaf168b19d673903fe907f41e5170c5c9.png" height="773" width="1298" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAA7DAAAOwwHHb6hkAAAAI0lEQVR4nGNQUdNevWbDscP7utpqGPYdPn7kxNmejupAb10Aq0ENSUa+xgsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>A birthday gift ad connected to a chatbot. After clicking the ad people can get more info inside Messenger before going to your website.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>More Chatfuel features</h2>
<h3>Templates</h3>
<p>Templates offer a quick and easy entry into chatbots. They allow business owners to chose between pre-made templates divided by industry and use case. Pick your niche and template, then change the data inside, no need to worry about building a conversation logic from scratch. New templates are added regularly and be sure to tell us if you don’t find the one you’re looking for.</p>
<p>Explore our templates catalog <a href="https://chatfuel.com/templates">here</a>.</p>
<figure><img alt="vivaldi_99u9TSuze0.png" src="/cms/static/blog/632c1e7c7aaed27625b5fd6b_c37610e7663f168820bfa08c4bb794d08bee12dbdef6960d0f8115ce4ce320b93076a3019b8add6e50f94a5b7988350a0db3f7b7891d433c3e5a9d6b7780e2e0b2aedd7b9c265a5fb1aab587c13d1d19df02044d965ab24837620c847b4b6d1308611845.png" height="1080" width="1903" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAA7DAAAOwwHHb6hkAAAAI0lEQVR4nGNgEDBS0fVSFTVlYjBk8PSf+v/3nv93XxUlzgcAUHUJm31DLYYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption><a href="https://chatfuel.com/templates" target="_blank">source</a></figcaption></figure>
<h3>Workspaces</h3>
<p>Workspaces is a feature aimed at agencies, it’s only included in the Enterprise plan. It lets you organize multiple bots into groups and then pay for an entire group instead of paying for each single bot. This simplifies billing management and helps to put your money where it needs to go.</p>
<figure><img alt="List View.png" src="/cms/static/blog/632c1e7d2c8ac08d351546cd_bcbce0b6f5e23fe8488399479bbe937d4eb51e24c7c3bcb5cc4eaf88463d0289d8af1ad2108921b0c5fd27257a9df513c493bf1c680e092e623218c835c2aebbe8a6c9d9a3dbae4c2acddbb43aba01e603eac1aa8cf05ee79e6d5649aa719d787cbb183c.png" height="1678" width="2400" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAABYlAAAWJQFJUiTwAAAAMklEQVR4nAEnANj/AJaYm+rr7tbY3D1FTQAkJijP0tO0trinqa0AWVxf19jZ8O/w7u7xu3MYI6B0LZ8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<h3>Strong support</h3>
<p>Chatfuel has a friendly team of dedicated experts available 24/7. They are bot building experts who always focus on solving every individual case. So expect a mom-and-pop shop level of service.</p>
<figure><img alt="support-team.png" src="/cms/static/blog/632c1e7e26040b5123004232_e11b757d1410cbe4a6327e8428c904ca2386e2597a896e0af60a2491230f1bb4331a2f9fe4bc3010936c08c31cef49ab51db69e869a9c9a43dcaa294b27479fd7e36e1ca16fa5d2a6b972c4fafddcf82ddad020825564e1304fa23c96ca298725f79a4e6.png" height="914" width="1907" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAA7DAAAOwwHHb6hkAAAAI0lEQVR4nGNwsDSd0tTy//eL3RsnMAgJCXVWV5amx3GwMQAAmLgKInVwDsUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<h2>Examples of how real businesses use chatbots</h2>
<h3>For marketing</h3>
<p>Example 1. CodEye, a media company used a chatbot to address the effectiveness of their ads. Their bot redirected people to their app by showing teasers for top news stories. Their acquisition cost went down by 200% and app installs <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/media-company-194-roi-with-chatbot">grew by 40% per month</a>.</p>
<p>Example 2. An e-commerce retailer struggled to find and attract their audience. They used a bot to collect replies from customers who clicked their ads and then used this info to improve their ad targeting. As a result their yearly average return on ad spend <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/agency-gets-999-roas-for-ecommerce-client-using-messenger-bot">(ROAS) result was 999%</a> and a repeated sales rate went up by 30%.</p>
<h3>For sales</h3>
<p>Example 1. Nissan ran a bot that first asked prospects questions about the kind of car they wanted. Then it measured their buying intent and sent out “high priority” contacts to a dealership. This helped them make <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/nissan-sells-cars-using-messenger-bot">$380,000 in a month</a> and improved their organic sales 10 times.</p>
<p>Example 2. Beauty Player struggled to fulfill orders in time and lost leads because they couldn’t be there 24/7. By using a chatbot they <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/beauty-startup-sells-more-with-messenger-bot">increased their monthly sales by 40%</a> ($250,000) and reduced the conversion cost by 50%.</p>
<h3>For customer support</h3>
<p>Example 1. HelloFresh built a bot to automatically check on new activity on their Facebook Page. It then replied to users and answered common questions. Their <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/hellofresh-reduces-support-wait-times-with-chatfuel-messenger-bot">response time dropped by 76%</a>.</p>
<p>Example 2. A startup created a Messenger chatbot for hotels so they could keep up with competitors like Airbnb. Their first six hotels <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/messenger-chatbot-to-help-hotels-through-covid-19">saved 140+ hours of time</a>.</p>
<h2>Enterprise plan benefits</h2>
<p><strong>Custom pricing</strong> — pay based on your business needs. <br>
<strong>Workspaces</strong> — organize multiple bots into groups to optimize spending. <br>
<strong>White labeling</strong> — keep clients within your ecosystem without any mentions of Chatfuel. <br>
<strong>Bot building team</strong> — explain your vision for your bot to our experts and they’ll do the building. <br>
<strong>Dedicated account manager</strong> — address your concerns and make sure your needs are met. <br>
<strong>Priority support</strong> — resolve any issues with your bot as soon as they arrive.</p>
<p>Ready to try? Sign up for <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com/sign-up">a free trial</a> to start with bot building, or <a href="https://chatfuel.com/redirector?target=request_a_demo">book a meeting</a> with us, if you need help setting up a bot.</p>

Chatbots for business are used in marketing, for customer support and in sales. Learn how they work and how you can make one.

Why a social media chatbot can help any business

Guest Experts

<p>AI chatbots are slowly becoming more commonplace in customer support. And it’s not hard to see why: they’re fast, efficient, and 24/7. In fact, <a href="https://www.tidio.com/blog/chatbot-statistics">more than 62% of consumers</a> prefer using a customer support chatbot rather than waiting for human agents to answer their questions.</p>
<p>But not all AI chatbots are built the same. If you want your chatbot to be successful, you need to choose the right platform that will allow you to create a more intelligent and engaging bot. Let’s look at the basics of AI, its top benefits in business, and how Chatfuel is taking the lead in changing customer support for the better.</p>
<h2>What is AI?</h2>
<p>In a nutshell, AI or artificial intelligence is the ability to program systems or machines to make them behave like humans. It is essentially machine learning, where the machines are “learning” how to do things that would normally require a human. But when and how did this technology come to life?</p>
<h3>How it all started</h3>
<p>In 1956, the term “artificial intelligence” was coined by <a href="https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/history-artificial-intelligence">John McCarthy</a>, a legendary computer scientist at Stanford University and is now referred to as the father of AI. He defined AI as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines.” The field of AI research was officially born at a conference held at Dartmouth College. But according to <a href="http://jmc.stanford.edu/artificial-intelligence/what-is-ai/index.html">McCarthy</a>, the English mathematician Alan Turing may have originated the idea of AI when he gave a lecture on it in 1947.</p>
<p>Fast-forward to the late 1990s, the supercomputer 'Deep Blue' was developed by IBM and defeated the reigning world chess champion. Today, we enjoy AI technologies in many aspects of our lives, from route-finding apps that suggest the fastest way to get somewhere to more complex applications like speech recognition and language translation.</p>
<h2>5 benefits of AI in business</h2>
<p>As AI technology matures, its potential benefits for businesses become more visible. As a result, more and more companies are starting to understand how AI can be used to their advantage. Let’s dive in and explore the five key benefits of AI for your business.</p>
<h3>1. Increase productivity and efficiency</h3>
<p>One of the most apparent benefits of AI is its ability to automate tasks that would otherwise be time-consuming for humans. This not only frees up employees to focus on other tasks but also increases efficiency and productivity company-wide.</p>
<p>A good example of this is customer service. Rather than having someone sit on the phone all day answering basic questions, AI chatbots can be used to handle the initial customer queries. This not only saves time but also reduces the need for human resources.</p>
<h3>2. Improve employee retention</h3>
<p>According to <a href="https://projectcor.com/blog/how-to-avoid-employee-turnover-with-artificial-intelligence">SHRM</a>, employee turnover rates in 2020 varied from 13% to 30% across all industries. And they were significantly higher in the service sector.</p>
<p>More than ever, businesses are looking for ways to improve employee retention rates and keep their best talent. AI can help with this by automating repetitive and mundane tasks, which gives employees more time to focus on their work-life balance. Besides increased productivity, automation can lead to happier employees who are more likely to be satisfied with their work situation and less likely to leave for greener pastures.</p>
<h3>3. Enhance customer service and satisfaction</h3>
<p>AI can improve customer service in many ways, from providing quick and accurate responses to common questions using chatbots to routing customers to the best support agent. <a href="https://www.chatbot.com/blog/chatbot-statistics">Over 70% of internet users</a> prefer to use chatbots when searching for answers to simple questions. This can help businesses enhance customer service and satisfaction levels by avoiding the long wait times often associated with traditional customer service.</p>
<p>This is where <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com">Chatfuel</a> comes in to make things easier for your business. Chatfuel is one of the leading no-code chatbot platforms that can help harness the power of automation in your industry. Trusted by over 7 million companies since 2015, it provides an easy-to-use builder to create chatbots for websites, Messenger, and Instagram.</p>
<h3>4. Boost sales</h3>
<p>Most businesses struggle with marketing and sales, explicitly finding new customers and selling more to existing ones. With the help of AI, you can automate your marketing and sales processes, such as lead generation and follow-ups.</p>
<p>For example, chatbots can qualify leads, book appointments, send personalized marketing messages, and make customer recommendations. AI can also help businesses keep track of customer sentiment and feedback, which can improve your service, engage return customers, and drive up sales.</p>
<h3>5. Create better business decisions</h3>
<p>As AI gets more intelligent, it can help you make better business decisions by providing accurate data and insights. This is because AI can quickly process large amounts of data and identify patterns that humans may not be able to see. By analyzing customer data and preferences, AI can help you understand what your customers want and need. This allows you to create better products and services to solve their problems.</p>
<p>AI can also help you identify new business opportunities and make better decisions about where to invest your resources, whether in product development or marketing campaigns.</p>
<h2>Create smarter AI chatbots with Chatfuel</h2>
<p>Chatfuel is the leading no-code chatbot platform that allows business owners to create AI chatbots on their websites, Messenger, and Instagram. For example, this <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/beauty-startup-sells-more-with-messenger-bot">beauty startup</a> used Chatfuel’s features and integrations in their bot and got impressive results:</p>
<ul>
<li>increased monthly sales by 40%,</li>
<li>reduced the cost per conversation by more than 50%,</li>
<li>achieved a 10x return on ad spend (ROAS),</li>
<li>increased their average order value by 10%.</li>
</ul>
<p>You can “teach” your Chatfuel chatbot to recognize more user messages by adding more keywords and using different keyword settings: Similar to, Contains, or Matches. It gives your bot a better understanding of the user’s input and ensures you can respond correctly.</p>
<p>Ready to automate your customer support and marketing campaigns? <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com">Sign up</a> today to get started for free.</p>
<figure><div><iframe allowfullscreen frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gpcdWAQyRMs" title="7 lesser known AI chatbot tools you must try for business in 2022 | Chatfuel"></iframe></div></figure>

Learn how AI chatbots are helping improve customer support and speed up replies to common questions.

AI and its benefits for your business

<p>Chatbots have taken bold strides in the tech space. This journey started from the early stages when language programs proved machines like Parry and Eliza to the tech marvel Alexa. The industry has advanced the concept of human-AI communication and made sure customer interaction runs smoothly. It removed the delay caused by human management and increased business performance by 88%, leading to increased customer satisfaction.</p>
<p>This article has the correct information for building the chatbot you need. So without further ado, let’s begin.</p>
<h2>Importance of chatbots</h2>
<p>Chatbots are an indispensable piece of technology for the following reasons:</p>
<h3>Your company introduction</h3>
<p>The chatbot is the first point of interaction between customers and your business. It’s also a touchpoint more effective than email or phone calls, with <a href="https://www.hubspot.com/stories/chatbot-marketing-future">Hubspot</a> recording 47% of users open to making purchases via a bot. Your chatbot’s personality introduces your brand identity and what you offer to clients. A good example is chatbot Vroni from the travel brand, Dachstein Salzkammergut. Its name and profile picture selection indicate the bot’s receptive personality, which reflects the brand’s identity.</p>
<figure><img alt="image.png" src="/cms/static/blog/630742d1ad3e9525ce27ed4f_e5d41f69e696f4104c10cb06025c7d798231080e405c92303b06afbd83947ce343279832428bf34adcd3d753a27e0856554b67a4c5248b9f1460a30b29122102e461898720a6ebac65d3202d54248032a56d3c4064904e37122653ea8af387e18f4c3ffc.png" height="634" width="1331" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAA7DAAAOwwHHb6hkAAAAIklEQVR4nGMIDJFva6u2dTT+/+8fg6OvZmt7EQsvw63HhwCFYwq9IwEKPwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>Chatbot Vroni offers help to Dachstein Salzkammergut customers.</p>
<h3>Constant availability</h3>
<p>Traditional customer service ends the moment your physical staff leaves the office. This work closure doesn’t stop the customers from having queries and sending messages at odd hours. With a chatbot, you get the assurance of being permanently online to address those issues.</p>
<h3>Gaining insight into customer behavior</h3>
<p>Customer inquiries and questions help you understand their preferences. Chatbots are the perfect way to get this information with the volume of queries they receive. You can also build your bot with specific responses so it can steer customers to give helpful information.</p>
<h2>How to build and improve your chatbot</h2>
<p>Getting a chatbot and ensuring it performs perfectly are two sides of the same automation coin. To make sure things go smoothly, use these tips:</p>
<h3>1. Stick to your brand’s tone of voice or create one</h3>
<p>Tone consistency is the best way to improve brand awareness and trust with your customers. For example, brands like Old Spice have harnessed a recognizable humorous tone for communicating with customers. You can <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/craft-a-brand-voice-that-converts">create your brand tone</a> for your chatbot by defining your values and target audience. Then, you can improve the chatbot by creating a style guide for new content over time.</p>
<h3>2.  Utilize the default answer feature</h3>
<p>Default answers are the automated response your bot gives to a question it can’t recognize. A good example could be “Sorry, I didn’t catch that” or “Could you repeat that?”. When building your chatbot, ensure the <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/4413516-default-answers">default answers</a> are engaged to give users a sense of direction. You can also boost bot performance by coding critical responses that can make users ask better questions about what they want.</p>
<p>For the default answer feature to work, inform the customer that they’re chatting with a bot. This transparency builds trust for your brand while ensuring your customers have multiple choices.</p>
<h3>3. Personalize user experience with user attributes</h3>
<p>Every customer wants to feel special when communicating with your brand. It shows that your company cares and is not just out to turn a profit.</p>
<p>User attributes are the information given to each user, making it easier to identify them. In this case, you can address customers by their first name to give them a memorable experience. You can go further by using other attributes like <em>last seen</em> to convince users they’ve been away for too long.</p>
<h3>4. Use keywords and AI</h3>
<p>Artificial Intelligence is the ability of a machine to perform tasks that would have required human knowledge and experience. For example, AI allows your bot to simulate a discussion with a user as naturally as possible. You can use this conversational technology on different platforms such as websites, mobile apps, messaging applications, and the telephone.</p>
<p>You can use <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/828883-keywords">keywords</a> to trigger your chatbot. You can open the user input section and add the keyword. When the user types in that word, the chatbot becomes active. The conversation will proceed in a way that benefits your business.</p>
<p>You can add more keywords later to prepare for new customer responses. This action will widen the scope of items you can suggest to customers for purchase and answer their most pressing questions.</p>
<h3>5. Build different conversational flows for different users</h3>
<p>To build the perfect bot, you need a flow builder. A flow is a path the user takes from the Entry Point through a set of steps to the final action, e.g., a purchase. With different flows for different users, you can attend to unrelated requests at the same time. To create user flows, you need to understand the users' needs and identify the different Entry Points. For example, customers can engage with your Instagram story, which is the Story Reply Entry Point.</p>
<p>When building your user flow, we recommend you understand what you’re trying to achieve. This clarity would serve as an outline for your objectives. All flows are listed on the left, while content appears on the right. You can improve the flow elements (blocks, plugins, and connectors) by connecting all of them to avoid dead ends in the conversation.</p>
<h3>6. Add typing animation</h3>
<p>The typing animation will determine how smooth the conversation with the user will be. It also makes the user feel comfortable, like conversing with a fellow human being. A good example is the “typing” and “recording audio” on messengers. You can set the animation speed to give the user time to read the information. Then, if you wish, you can change the speed to fit the user’s response time.</p>
<h2>Get your automation with Chatfuel today</h2>
<p>With these tips, you can create and improve your Chatfuel bot to communicate with customers naturally. So <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com">sign up</a> today and get your 50 free conversations.</p>

Useful tips on how to improve a chatbot with default answers, user attributes and more.

6 tips on building a chatbot for your business

<p>Consistent interaction with customers is crucial to the success of any business. According to <a href="https://www.project.co/communication-statistics-2022/%255C">project.co</a>, 46% of companies have lost customers due to poor communication. Clients still need information on products and services before deciding. A communication system is necessary to handle this, and we have a perfect one.</p>
<p>This article will dive deeply into customer re-engagement and its importance. We’ll also give you tips for your re-engagement campaign and how you can automate your marketing activities. It doesn’t get better than this, so let’s begin.</p>
<h2>What is customer re-engagement?</h2>
<p>Customer re-engagement is renewing the customer’s interest in your brand. Direct marketing channels promote your services to customers who have used your services before. It’s a system that ensures customers learn more about your business offerings and come back for more purchases. Customer re-engagement is also the practice of sending ads to customers that have shown previous interest. The promotional strategy is engineered to direct them from the intention stage to making a purchase phase.</p>
<p>Reconnecting with your customers can happen using multiple channels. Beyond the highly recommended Facebook Messenger chatbot, you can use live chat, email, SMS, and messenger as a powerful tool with an open rate of 90%.</p>
<h2>Why is customer re-engagement important?</h2>
<p>Customer re-engagement isn’t just about giving customers a virtual greeting. Instead, it’s an opportunity to connect with clients on a personal and relatable level. Urban Outfitters, for example, blends humor and emotional appeal. The campaign uses creative design formats and witty statements to engage customers like the format below.</p>
<p><em>Can we please stay together forever? Check:</em> <br>
[ ] <em>Yes. Our love is REAL (and I want to receive UO emails)</em> <br>
[ ] <em>No. It’s over; goodbye (remove me from your list)</em></p>
<p>It’s also an opportunity to remind them why you’re at the top of your game. This intention was the driving force for the online bike store Chain Reaction. The brand created a re-engagement email that covered the services the brand had in store, all with a $10 discount code.</p>
<p>Re-engagement also gives you a better communication channel. For example, the Taiwanese e-commerce retailer 3D Mats creates and sells quality products. They had clients who needed quick responses but couldn’t meet up manually. So it harnessed chatbot technology to create a system that created a campaign to promote new items to its customers. As a result re-purchase rate rose by 30% with 47% of customers buying other recommended products as well.</p>
<p>Using this strategy, the brand takes on a down-to-earth approach which sets it apart from competitors.</p>
<h2>How does re-engagement work?</h2>
<p>The customer re-engagement process starts with research and analysis. First, you need to confirm why customers stopped engaging with your business before trying to reconnect with them. For instance, if you use email marketing for client interaction, you must examine your newsletter strategy to improve email delivery.</p>
<p>Next, your search results will determine what re-engagement strategy to go with.</p>
<p>Send an update email if most of your customers have many unpurchased items in their carts. Such campaign helps solve the issue of increasing the open email rate. Also, you can host periodic customer events exclusively for existing customers. It creates a feeling of commitment and loyalty to your brand.</p>
<p>Finally, you’ll know the process has been successful when customers send feedback or buy new products. Facebook Messenger users are expected to grow to 138.1 million in the US alone. With the messenger rate up by 70-80% in the first hour, the best way to guarantee deliverability is by using a messenger chatbot.</p>
<h2>Chatbots and re-engagement: a perfect match</h2>
<p>An automated messenger bot is a game changer by any customer interaction standard. These are the top benefits of chatbots in your re-engagement campaign:</p>
<ul>
<li>A cost-effective interaction service;</li>
<li>Eliminates tedious and monotonous customer engagement practices;</li>
<li>Creates a platform for seamless live communication, guaranteeing brands can attend to more clients;</li>
<li>Gives insights into consumer behavior;</li>
<li>Extensive compatibility and integration with sales, customer service, marketing, service helpdesk and more;</li>
<li>Easier to scale to meet up with business growth;</li>
<li>Guarantees brands can live up to corporate promises and consumer expectations.</li>
</ul>
<h2>How Chatfuel handles business re-engagement</h2>
<p>Re-engagement is a big deal here at Chatfuel. We’ve seen quality brands lose loyal customers due to a lack of customer interaction processes and strategies. Considering this, we developed these features to assist brands in their messenger bot marketing;</p>
<h3>User attributes</h3>
<p>An attribute is something like a tag assigned to a user. There are two types of such tags. The first type is called system attributes. It contains information provided by Facebook, which you can’t change: gender, first name, locale, etc. The second type is called custom attributes. You can create and change them: product category, quiz answers, etc.</p>
<p>With attributes, you retain user information and personalize their experience. For example, refer customers by name, mention some information they previously shared, or even segment your audience within your bot based on their attributes.</p>
<h3>Entry Points</h3>
<p>These are the channels for bringing users to your Facebook or Instagram bot. Entry points vary depending on your preferred platform. For example, Facebook Shops let users communicate with an automated Facebook Messenger when they visit your online store.</p>
<p>Alternatively, settings like story mention and story reply have interactive bots for users that interact with your Instagram story. Entry Points for both platforms work similarly, with Entry Eoints like comments autoreply for Facebook and Instagram pages.</p>
<h3>Re-engage messages</h3>
<p>With a Messenger chatbot, you get multiple re-engagement message formats. However, you can only send your messages after 24 hours have passed. The One-Time Notification lets your bot send a follow-up message to a user that’s subscribed during the waiting period.</p>
<p>You can bypass the 24-hour rule by sending message tags. That said, you can only send four types: account update, confirmed event update, post-purchase update, and non-promotional subscription.</p>
<h3>Sponsored Messages</h3>
<p>Sponsored Messages are paid ads that operate outside the 24-hour window. So you can only send them only to customers with previously engaged with your bot. They’re also cost-effective, as we spend $9.19 on average to send 1,136 messages. That’s equal to the amount paid by SMS-marketing providers and double the impact on customer interaction.</p>
<h3>Broadcasts</h3>
<p>This communication channel is a crucial instrument in your customer re-engagement. First, you get access to our promotions, which let you categorize customers and boost revenue by sharing relevant updates. We also send out your newsletters accurately to subscribers without them being flagged as spam.</p>
<p>Finally, we retrieve and review customer feedback concerning your business operations. Our findings are necessary to improve your services and increase the overall client experience.</p>
<h2>Get your re-engagement campaign going today</h2>
<p>According to Zendesk, 69% of customers are willing to communicate with a bot. This setup takes the stress of interacting with customers round the clock.</p>
<p>At Chatfuel, we’ve researched the importance of customer re-engagement. The process is more straightforward thanks to a chatbot for Instagram and Facebook Messenger and Broadcasts for more distinct re-engagement operations. <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com/sign-up">Sign up now</a> and launch your re-engagement strategy. With our help, customers will be heading back for more in no time.</p>

Automating customer re-engagement reduces work stress and increase interaction. Learn how a Chatfuel bot can improve your re-engagement.

Customer re-engagement: what is it and how it works

E-commerce

Facebook

<p>Any business wants to grab new customers right away. And if you run a Facebook Business Page, there are several core things you already have in place to do that. You added relevant contact data, so your clients can contact you. You keep your page active by adding new posts regularly. Your clients can ask you questions by sending a message to your business. But what if you could take it up a notch? Your clients could get a response quicker and you could go as far as generating more leads on autopilot. Below we’ll show you how to do this by setting up FAQs for your Facebook Page.</p>
<h2>What are Facebook FAQs?</h2>
<p>Frequently asked questions or FAQs are an efficient tool for Facebook Pages. They let you create a list of the most asked questions with answers on your page. It helps your clients get an answer to their question right away. Let’s say you sell toys. With FAQs you can add questions about shipping, payment methods and refund policy. If a client is interested and wants to send you a message, they will see these questions after they open a chat window. When they click any of these questions, they will receive an answer instantly. This lets you start an interaction with a customer before they think about going to competition.</p>
<figure><img alt="FAQs buttons on a Facebook Page" src="/cms/static/blog/6214e510a7aed594a66eeb22_c7ad8fc4d4e93041cb50206476509ab0749d539ef7af89ab8997506ee53ae4505867f7724b277f91389b1caa3454681f620e9d7b898864689b8b0ac4bb74be53a888e9876acb2eb0281293436f8d4d94679204e28bbe13286cc9cc2ed5babf3415a0dab3.png" height="532" width="1261" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAJUlEQVR4nAEaAOX/AM3KydbU0svX59zl7wD3+fujp6cJBQCjo6L2yhDolw1iXwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>This is what FAQ buttons look like for your customers</figcaption></figure>
<h2>How to set up basic FAQs for your Facebook Page</h2>
<p>If you want to set up a simple question-response logic, you need to turn on Frequently asked questions in <a href="https://business.facebook.com">Meta Business Suite</a>. Open up business settings, select Inbox in the sidebar menu on the left. Click on Automated responses in the top right corner and choose Frequently asked questions. Choose Messenger as your platform and start adding questions and replies. After you added everything, switch the toggle on top to turn it on and save changes. If you find that this is enough for your business, you are all set. Now your customers can get an answer to their question in no time. In the next step we’ll show you how to go even further and put your lead generation on autopilot.</p>
<h2>How to set up FAQs to generate leads</h2>
<p>Simple question-answer logic is a great first step and it will help you attract more customers. But the problem is, it basically works as a knowledge base. It doesn’t feel like a conversation with a person. Luckily, there is a way around. Setting up automation. It can help to give your clients more specific info for their case. To make FAQs generate leads for us, we will use Chatfuel. It is a no-code automation platform, which is developed with small and medium business in mind. Before we continue, <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com/sign-up">sign up</a> with Chatfuel and connect your Facebook Page. Read our <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/2568024-getting-started">guide</a> to learn how to do it.</p>
<h3>Set up keywords for your questions</h3>
<p>After creating an account, you need to set up keywords. Keywords let automation recognize a question a customer sends. Then, AI sends your client to an appropriate conversation logic. Don’t worry, you’ll set up a logic in the next step. For now, just make sure that your keywords and the questions you set up earlier are identical. First, open Keywords tab in the sidebar menu. On this page you need to duplicate your questions from FAQs you set in Facebook. On the top of the page you can switch between Facebook and Instagram. Notice that Facebook is selected by default. Click Add Keyword and copy your question. Then, set a Flow as response to it. If you have more than one question, do the same for each one. After you finish adding keywords, head to Flow tab.</p>
<h3>Build automation in Flows</h3>
<p>Next, you need to set up a response itself. Earlier you added one or more Flows. Simply put, a Flow is your conversation logic. If you have more than one Flow, you need to build such logic for each one. First, click Add content to start adding your response. There are several things you can do, but in our case, we want to generate more leads. To do this, add a block called Collect Emails or Collect Phones. These blocks let your customers leave their emails or phone numbers. Chatfuel then saves this information. After you finish adding content, turn on your bot. Your customers now follow your Flow based on the keyword they entered. Play around and improve your Flow. Or if you don’t want to start from scratch, use our pre-made template. <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com/sign-up">Sign up</a> with Chatfuel to start using automation.</p>
<p><strong>Bonus tip:</strong> You can use a built-in CRM to find customer information like emails of phones. Another option is to use our Google Sheet integration. It’s a great way to export data from Chatfuel. Any time a client leaves an email or a phone number, your bot will send this info to a spreadsheet automatically. Add Google Sheet integration to your Flow to connect your account and chose which data you want to export.</p>
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AJtli4-GDQM" title="How to add FAQs to a Facebook Page | Chatfuel"></iframe></figure>

Facebook Page offers a powerful Frequently asked questions feature. You can set up FAQs to generate more leads with Chatfuel automation.

How to attract more customers to your Facebook Page with FAQs

Agency

Edtech

Entertainment

Healthcare

Marketing

Non-profit

Website

<p>You’re probably already familiar with the <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/top-9-reasons-your-business-needs-a-chatbot">most common uses for chatbots</a>. They can help businesses do things like:</p>
<ul>
<li>Answer FAQs instantly, 24/7</li>
<li>Generate and qualify leads</li>
<li>Recommend products</li>
<li>Move shoppers down the funnel</li>
</ul>
<p>But what many business owners and marketers don’t know is that chatbots can help with other areas of your business too. They can help improve SEO, skyrocket digital ad performance, boost customer retention, and lots more. So whether your business already has a chatbot or you’re considering building one, scroll to learn about several extra perks they can bring to your brand.</p>
<h2>#1. Chatbots can decrease your website’s bounce rate for SEO</h2>
<p><strong>Bounce rate</strong> is the percentage of a website’s visitors who only visit a single page on the site before leaving. While these statistics don’t count toward your search rankings per se, websites that appear higher on Google do <a href="https://backlinko.com/search-engine-ranking">tend to have lower bounce rates</a>.</p>
<p>Website abandonment is a real issue, especially for online merchants. In fact, the average ecommerce site experiences [bounce rates <a href="https://www.similarweb.com/corp/blog/bounce-rate/#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20you%20should%20expect,average%20between%2045%25%2D65%25.)">of around 42%</a>. Why? Because typically, websites with high bounce rates have user experience (UX) issues. Their pages often aren’t intuitively designed, which makes it difficult for visitors to navigate. And if people have to spend too much time trying to find what they want, they’ll simply go elsewhere.</p>
<p>Chatbots can help decrease bounce rates by offering navigation help from the get-go. You can <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/add-a-messenger-chatbot-to-your-website">add a chatbot to your website</a> and set it up to ask questions that get straight to the heart of a customer’s issue. From there, it can point them in the right direction—whether that’s to an information page, a product page, or even <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/849315-live-chat">to a live agent.</a></p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb5024dead06_Chatbot on website.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="1394" width="2650" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAABYlAAAWJQFJUiTwAAAAI0lEQVR4nGPg5OGXYGAw1VL+/es/g6KS8uwJffNmzThx6AYAWwEKBBXmoAYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Leeds-Beckett University offers a chatbot on their homepage to help visitors navigate the site.</figcaption></figure>
<p>As Nicolina Savelli, Wily Global’s Content and Social Media Marketer, <a href="https://databox.com/how-to-reduce-your-websites-bounce-rate">explains</a>: <em>“[Chatbots] dramatically decreased our bounce rate to 2%. […] The option forced users to browse longer and ask questions, rather than bouncing off the page.”</em></p>
<h2>#2. Chatbots can increase session duration for SEO</h2>
<p><strong>Session duration</strong> is the amount of time that people spend on your website before returning to the SERP (search engine results page). Google uses session duration to help rank your website. Longer website sessions, for example, show the algorithm that your website’s information is relevant to the search that led the visitor to it.</p>
<p><a href="https://drift.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2020-State-of-Conversational-Marketing.pdf">39% of B2B marketers</a> already say that conversational marketing techniques like chatbots will increase the time visitors spend on your website. It’s similar to how Messenger bots decrease bounce rate: they can help customers find the information they’re looking for more easily (and maybe some extra information they didn’t know they needed).</p>
<p>Visitors can ask for help on specific problems and chatbots will provide personalized answers that guide users to the correct information. Or, if the visitor isn’t looking to solve a specific problem, chatbots can help increase their session duration by asking them a few questions and recommending relevant content.</p>
<h2>#3. Chatbots can improve your customer service ratings</h2>
<p>For local businesses, reviews are the <a href="https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors">third most important ranking factor</a> if you want to make the cut for <a href="https://www.rankranger.com/seo-glossary/local-pack">Google’s Local Pack</a>. And even if your business isn’t geared toward local services, reviews still feature as <a href="https://backlinko.com/google-ranking-factors">a top Google ranking factor</a> since they boost your site’s reputation.</p>
<p>Improving the customer experience is one way to get positive reviews on sites like TrustPilot and Yelp as well as on your Facebook page—and the keys to a great customer experience are <strong>personalization</strong> and <strong>speed</strong>. <a href="https://www.evergage.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Evergage-2018-Trends-in-Personalization-Survey.pdf">88% of marketers</a> agree that customers have come to expect personalized service. And if it’s not available immediately, they’re likely to abandon your brand for the competition.</p>
<p>Messenger chatbots can improve your customer service in both of these areas. First, thanks to user attributes, bots can personalize the conversation with everything from the user’s name and time zone to preferences they’ve shared in past chats. And, of course, chatbots are available to answer questions instantly, 24 hours a day. <a href="https://www.intercom.com/blog/the-state-of-chatbots">Studies show</a> that they can boost customer satisfaction by a quarter and speed up response times by 300%.</p>
<p>Look at the HelloFresh chatbot, for example. Their “Freddie FreshBot” <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/how-to-turn-facebook-post-commenters-into-customers">automatically messages customers who leave comments</a> on HelloFresh’s Facebook posts. From there, the bot can answer questions, share coupon codes, and suggest recipes.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb3a81dead07_Hellofresh chatbot.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="1046" width="1600" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAMklEQVR4nAEnANj/AP7+/uTm5dzg4Nvk6gC/wsRgX1YOAAA1JyQA7e/wxcTCtK+r2dTS+yMYe3SxhA0AAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>The HelloFresh chatbot has improved the brand's customer service.</figcaption></figure>
<p>The result? HelloFresh’s <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/hellofresh-reduces-support-wait-times-with-chatfuel-messenger-bot">response times are down 76%</a>, which leads to lots of satisfied customers, as you can see from the <a href="https://www.trustpilot.com/review/hellofresh.com">24,000 five-star reviews</a> HelloFresh now has.</p>
<h2>#4. Chatbot data can inform your content marketing strategy</h2>
<p><a href="https://respona.com/blog/content-marketing-blogs">Content marketing</a> is one of the most powerful ways to <a href="https://userp.io/organic-business-growth">improve your search rankings</a>. By identifying important questions that your target audience may have and answering them through great content, you demonstrate the authority and expertise of your brand. By optimizing this content with keywords related to these issues, you push your site up search engine rankings.</p>
<p>While keyword research can certainly help you find out what your customers are searching for, it’s sometimes easier to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. That’s where chatbots come in, because they can directly learn more about what users need and are looking for through a friendly back-and-forth conversation or quiz. Right now, only <a href="https://www.intercom.com/blog/the-state-of-chatbots">22% of organizations</a> are using chatbots to collect data. That means 78% are missing a huge opportunity to better inform their <a href="https://getcodeless.com/content-marketing-companies">content marketing strategies</a>!</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb4c3edead08_iPhone 11.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="788" width="940" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAL0lEQVR4nGP4/Pmzk5OTopzq58+fGV68eOHj48PLL3Dnzh2G////29ra8QryAGUAiosT8Z9aYrEAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>A food blogger could use a chatbot to find out what people are most interested in, and then optimize her blog accordingly.</figcaption></figure>
<p>By collecting chatbot data, you’ll be able to discover the most commonly asked questions and biggest challenges that your customers face. These takeaways can guide your content strategy so that you have a clearer idea of the types of articles, guides, <a href="https://www.richterstudios.com/video-production/corporate-video-production">product videos</a>, etc. that your customers will find useful. In turn, you’ll end up ranking higher for key search terms that are relevant to solving problems within your specific target audience.</p>
<h2>#5. Chatbot data can improve your social media ad performance and ROI</h2>
<p>We’ve already discussed how chatbots are great tools for getting to know your customers better. The good news is that this customer data can also help improve the performance of your social media ads. The more you learn about your audience, the more precisely you can target them.</p>
<p>Take Beauty Player, a Taiwan-based ecommerce shop for skincare products. At first, their ads were expensive and underperforming. But then <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/beauty-startup-sells-more-with-messenger-bot">they launched a chatbot</a> and started gathering data about their users that way. They used that data to create custom and Lookalike audiences for their Facebook ads. The result? The brand reduced their cost per conversion by more than half — from $8.30 to $4.06 —and got a 10x return on ad spend.</p>
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O5HmJtC1A4M"></iframe><figcaption>Learn how to instantly send data about your chatbot users to Facebook Ads Manager to create Lookalike audiences.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>#6. Chatbots can encourage social sharing</h2>
<p>Your social media strategy should strive to increase brand awareness by encouraging your audience to share your content for you. Known as the “snowball effect,” you’ll gain more traction when your fans share your posts since your content will then seen by their audiences too. It’s one of the most effective ways to build brand awareness quickly.</p>
<p>To get this effect started, <a href="https://youtu.be/D4n6VLQHE5U">build a chatbot</a> that serves a useful purpose to your target audience. Then, encourage them to share the link to the Facebook bot with their friends, who are typically like-minded individuals.</p>
<p>The Taiwanese political party, Can’t Stop This Party, used this technique to great success. Founded by young people, the party wanted to urge other young voters to take part in the election. <a href="https://youtu.be/D4n6VLQHE5U">They created a Messenger chatbot</a> that educates voters on the issues and reminds them to head to the polls on election day. The helpful, engaging, and interactive bot was a huge success with its initial user base, so those people shared it. As a result, more than 40,000 youth turned out to vote in the elections! That’s the power of social sharing.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb08a5deac7b_Social sharing chatbot.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="1168" width="2080" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAJUlEQVR4nAEaAOX/AJvQ+f75/+705+Hu6ACwqKDrx+VLI0EOAgAATBAp5StJLwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>The chatbot that Can't Stop This Party created to encourage young people to vote was a success, because its initial users shared it with their friends.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>#7. Chatbots can boost customer retention</h2>
<p>Acquiring new customers can get expensive, since it’s common knowledge that you need <a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/the-ultimate-guide-to-prospecting-how-many-touchpoints-when-and-what-type#:~:text=With%20this%20in%20mind%2C%20eight,might%20be%20right%20for%20another.)">eight touch points</a> with a prospect before you’ll get the sale. Of course, customer acquisition needs to be a part of every business’s strategy. But retention should be too, since it’s cheaper and more efficient to focus on recapturing past customers who have already proven they liked your product or service.</p>
<p>Netting return customers relies on a range of factors, including how well you know them, how personalized your services are, and how slick your sales process is.</p>
<ul>
<li>Let’s consider <strong>personalization</strong> first. Nowadays, <a href="https://www.redpointglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/RedPoint-Gaps-in-CX-White-Paper_3.20.19.pdf">most consumers</a> expect businesses to personalize their services. That’s why <a href="https://www.yieldify.com/ebooks/personalization-after-covid-19">most brands</a> are now using personalization techniques in their customer retention strategies. And, as we’ve discussed, chatbots are ideal for this. In using more personalized customer service interactions like bots, <a href="https://info.ada.support/hubfs/Ada%20Content%20Assets/Ada_Forrester%20Opportunity%20Snapshot.pdf?utm_campaign=Forrester%20Ops%20Report&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=72058063&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_8dT3oFjo4tn0ZHnVAyoxnnQtGBh32IKMbpzmJKYgR-9vP9tI1a8ZL9PFhhl_AHLgxJd_xFFHeUoC_phoeoD6Rfn2FDA&utm_content=72058063&utm_source=hs_automation">over half of business leaders</a> have found that they’ve ended up with more loyal customers.</li>
<li>Secondly, consider the <strong>user</strong> <strong>experience</strong> of your sales process. Is it easy to buy (and buy again) from your brand? Consider that <a href="http://f9e7d91e313f8622e557-24a29c251add4cb0f3d45e39c18c202f.r83.cf1.rackcdn.com/RTP_RT208_SURV_CustomerAcquisitionRetention_July_2019_Final.pdf">a third of retailers</a> say it’s hard to retain customers due to their long sales cycles. What’s the correlation? It’s simple: Customers don’t want to buy from companies who make it difficult to purchase their products. The process needs to be fast, smooth, and efficient for the shopper.</li>
</ul>
<p>That’s where chatbots come in again. Messenger bots have the power to ease friction in the buying process, making it easy for customers to buy again. Check out <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/ecommerce-entrepreneur-uses-chatfuel-bot-to-automate-over-100-000-in-sales">the story of Photobooth Deluxe</a>, for example. Recognizing that 95% of its customers <a href="https://www.freshbooks.com/blog/facebook">came through Facebook</a>, the photobooth company switched out its slow, manual ordering method for a super-efficient Facebook chatbot which can handle the whole process. In doing this, the brand was able to automate over $100,000 of orders within a few months, all because their bot made the repeat-buying process easy for customers.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb7546dead09_Chatbot ordering process.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="1040" width="820" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAMAAAAECAIAAADETxJQAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAM0lEQVR4nAEoANf/AI+Rk7S0tuvq6wDLzc2IiIjz8/MAsLKzDg4N5ubmAN7d3n2BhePk5PZAGR+9uKzVAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>The photobooth company's chatbot reminds repeat customers when it's time to reorder printer supplies, and lets them complete the order in a few taps.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>A chatbot is a multi-purpose tool for your business</h2>
<p>As you can see, the function of a Chatfuel bot reaches far beyond simple customer service inquiries. Chatbots can now help to inform, shape, and amplify your SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, and more to help you boost brand awareness and drive sales.</p>
<p><a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com">Sign up for your free Chatfuel account</a> to start building a Messenger chatbot for your business today. Then, when you’re ready for priority support and unlimited users, <a href="https://chatfuel.com/pricing">upgrade to Pro</a>. Happy botting!  🤖</p>
<p><em>This post comes to you from <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannecamarce">Joanne Camarce</a>, a digital marketing expert specializing in SEO, ecommerce, and social media.</em></p>

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